Lychack masters the spare sentence

There are a scarce few writers I would dare compare to Cormac McCarthy, but William Lychack is one of them.

Lauren Daley

There are a scarce few writers I would dare compare to Cormac McCarthy, but William Lychack is one of them.

Lychack writes about New Englanders' lives like McCarthy writes about the Mexican border. That is, to say, sparsely and beautifully.

Lychack's work has appeared in "The Best American Short Stories" and The Pushcart Prize, and on public radio's "This American Life." His 2004 novel, "The Wasp Eater," about a dysfunctional family splitting up in late '70s Connecticut, was critically acclaimed.

In his new short story collection, "The Architect of Flowers," Lychack writes poetically about the small, sharp moments of everyday New England life.

In "Stolpestad,'' a cop is asked by a 9-year-old boy and his mother to put their dying dog out of its misery. In "Griswald,'' an unnamed protagonist looks back at his childhood.

Anna and Bob Cussler, from "The Wasp Eater,'' return in two stories at different points in their lives: in "Chickens," they're expecting a baby, and in "To The Farm," an elderly Anna visits Bob's grave.

Lauren: You write in a staccato, very sparse style that reminds me almost of Cormac McCarthy in ways. Is he an influence of yours?

Bill: I'll take comparisons to Cormac McCarthy any day of the week. I can't say that I feel he's a huge influence on my work, but I admire some of his novels a great deal. The Border Trilogy is always close at-hand. I remember reading "All the Pretty Horses" and starting my novel over again from scratch. That book upped the ante in a significant way. When he blends storytelling with language and heart he's pure gold.

Lauren: Do you find there's one connecting theme that runs through "Architect of Flowers"?

Bill: Gratitude. And mystery. Those are the themes, I feel, that run through all of my work. I do have to say, though, that the writer is often the least qualified person to talk about his or her work "¦

Lauren: Which is your favorite of the 13 stories in "Flowers"?

Bill: As Bob Dylan says about the songs of his music catalogue, "They're all just different kinds of good." Favorites change all the time, depending on which child is nicest or closest at the moment. Right now, I'd have to say the closing story, "To the Farm," comes closest to my current feelings about the world"¦

Lauren: "Stolpestad" is a powerful story. What gave you the idea for that?

Bill: It turns out that many of my stories start from true stories — the eel story, the chicken story, the dog story — and "Stolpestad" started from something that happened to my family.

We had a family dog that was hit by a car, a policeman helped by shooting the dog, but the dog didn't actually die from the gunshots. We found the animal in the tall grass a few hours later. Needless to say, that story never quite found a way of lying still for me.

In fiction I found a way to explore the feelings that the events still held for me. And I could expand the story by going into the second-person perspective of the police officer, how you could do all the right things, have all the best intentions, and how you might still come up short.

Lauren: Why do you like to write in the second person?

Bill: I like second person because everyone says you can't write in second person. I think that point of view can put a reader flush up against the action and feeling of the narrative. The most visceral, emotional, and traumatic stories of the collection — "Stolpestad" and "Griswald" — are purposely told in second person to give that sense, I hope, of immediacy "¦

Lauren: You've now written a novel, children's book and short stories. Which genre do you prefer?

Bill: Writing is writing is writing for me. I've also written and published poetry, as well as a great deal of nonfiction and journalism, including, of all things, a book on the history of cement. I don't prefer one genre to another; I just look for the way to care about the material at hand. That's my job, I feel, to care and keep caring about what I'm working on.

Lauren: Who are your favorite writers?

Bill: Anton Chekhov, Anton Chekhov, and Anton Chekhov. Then there's Chekhov, of course, and Chekhov, and Chekhov, and finally Chekhov.

Bill: "The Old Man and the Sea," by Ernest Hemingway; "So Long, See You Tomorrow," by William Maxwell; "A Long Desire," by Evan S. Connell; "The Rings of Saturn," by W.G. Sebald; "The Great Bridge," by David McCullough; "The Brothers Karamazov," by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Lauren: What are you working on next?

Bill: I'm working on a novel now. And I'm working on being a better husband, father, and person. These two work projects, I'm afraid, are often in conflict with one another. Like any writer, I imagine, I believe I sometimes exist as living proof in the world that hope truly doth spring eternal.

I hear you, Bill. Contact Lauren Daley at ldaley33@gmail.com.

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